Causes of Crime
What is strain theory?
People can't achieve socially approved goals through legal means. This creates anomie, and they turn to crime as a result.
Prisons have four main purposes. Identify and explain these.
Deterrence - specific and general. Puts people off committing crime.
Rehabilitation - support offenders and help them to turn their backs on criminal behaviour.
Punishment -ensuring that offenders are give appropriate punishments for their crime.
Protection - removes ability of offenders to commit crime against the general public.
This is when people move away from traditional class based voting patterns. For example, working class voters are not guaranteed to vote Labour and middle class workers are not guaranteed to vote Conservative.
What is the warrior gene, and what evidence is there that shows there is a link to crime?
This is a genetic condition which has links to violent crime. Those that have it, have low levels of the MAOA variant. For example, those with are 13x more likely to commit crime.
Explain why prisons is ineffective.
Overcrowding, high cost, lack of rehabilitation, drugs and violence in prisons.
Explain why social media has been criticised as a factor of voting behaviour.
It is largely used by younger voters, but these are the least likely to vote. It is also considered an echo chamber which reaffirms existing views, rather than influence new views.
What do Cesare Lombroso and Robert Sheldon believe? Be specific about each.
Lombroso - suggested that criminals were atavistic: essentially ‘evolutionary throwbacks’. Certain features made people more criminal e.g. large jaws, high cheek bones.
Sheldon - three body types. Endomorph (low likelihood), Mesomorph (highly likely), and Ectomorph.(likely to commit suicide).
WHat do the following acronyms stand for:
DTTO
CPO
RLO
DTTO - Drug Treatment Testing Order.
CPO - Community Payback Order
RLO - Restriction of Liberty Order
Evaluate the effectiveness of either AMS or FPTP in providing fair representation.
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Explain what ACEs are, give examples and evidence that shows a link to crime.
What other factors do they link to?
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is a broad term that refers to traumatic or stressful experiences that a child may experience during their upbringing. These experiences can have negative impacts on a child's health, well-being, and development, and can lead to a variety of physical and mental health issues in adulthood.
Examples - addiction in the family, domestic violence, divorce, neglect, parent in prison etc.
Those with 4+ ACEs = 20x more likely to commit crime.
Why are RLOs considered both effective and ineffective,
Effective - Substantially cheaper than prison (£9k vs £40k), prevents breakdown of families, means offenders are not exposed to others in prison (universities of crime)
Ineffective - Equipment can be faulty and this means that offenders don't fulfill punishment. National Audit Office say it is not clear if tags have helped to cur re-offending, Soft justice/ lenient
Why is age now considered the 'dividing line' of British politics. Explain this fully and provided supporting evidence.
It is the dividing line because there are clear differences between younger and older voters. Younger voters are more likely to vote for political parties promising social change, such as SNP or Greens, whereas elderly voters are more likely to vote for parties that will maintain the status quo such as the Conservatives.
Outline Hans Eysenck's theory of the criminal personality.
He viewed criminal behaviour as developmentally immature, where the offender was selfish and concerned with immediate reward. Certain personality traits are associated with an increased likelihood of criminal behaviour. He identified three dimensions of personality:
Evaluate the view that non-custodial sentences are the most effective.
Relevant evaluation given. Reasoned and supported with evidence.
Explain the difference between FPTP and AMS.
FPTP - used to elect 650 MPs to the House of Commons. Person with the most votes wins. One MP per constituency.
AMS - used to electio 129 MSPs to the Scottish Parliament. 73 constituency MSPs and 56 regional. 2 ballot papers. Highly proportional.